Posted on March 1, 2023
Dominican Sister of Peace Michaeleen (Martha) Henderson, OP (91), died on December 22, 2022, at the Mohun Health Care Center in Columbus, OH.
A native of nearby Zanesville, OH, Sr. Michaeleen was born to Laura Paul and Orville Henderson on June 24, 1931. Sr. Michaeleen entered the Congregation in 1948, made first profession in 1950, and took her final vows in 1953. She served God and God’s church as a Dominican Sister for 72 years.
Sr. Michaeleen graduated from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Zanesville, and after her religious formation, earned her BS in Elementary Education from Ohio Dominican College.
She ministered as a teacher in New Haven, CT, Columbus and Steubenville, OH, and Pittsburgh, PA. She was aware that many of the students in her class came from low-income families, and Sr. Michaeleen made it her personal business to see that each child had what they needed to succeed. She had a room at the convent where she kept clothing for students in need, and would personally make sandwiches for any child who came to school without lunch or lunch money. She saw Christ in every young face and served each child with love.
As much as she loved education, Sr. Michaeleen felt herself called to health care. She ministered at the Saint George Hospital in Cincinnati, and at Mohun Health Care Center for more than two decades.
In 2015, Sr. Michaeleen entered a ministry of prayer and presence at Mohun, where she had served for so long. Although she had spent her life caring for others, she prayed often for “all the people who have helped me so many times along the way.”
Sr. Michaeleen was preceded in death by her parents, Orville and Laura Paul Henderson, her brothers, John, Robert, and Joseph, and her sisters, Betty Plants, Dorothy Dudas, Mary Caroline Johnson, and Dolores Mahon. She is survived by sisters, Donna Jardine and Celesta Maxwell, as well as many nieces and nephews.
A Wake and Vigil of Remembrance Service were held at the Columbus Motherhouse Chapel on December 29, 2022. The funeral liturgy was conducted at the Columbus Motherhouse on December 30, 2022. Sr. Michaeleen was buried with her Dominican Sisters at St. Joseph Cemetery.
To donate in Sr. Michaeleen’s memory, please click here.
To download a printable copy of this memorial, click here.
Memorial gifts in Sr. Michaeleen Henderson’s memory may be sent to the Dominican Sisters of Peace, Office of Mission Advancement, 2320 Airport Dr. Columbus, OH 43219 or oppeace.org.